Automatic stop for railways



Jan. 2, 1923. IIAQQSS E. E. CLEMENT. AUTOMATIC STOP FOR RAILWAYS. FILEDJAN. 11. 1921.

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earner EDWARD E. CLEMENT, OF 'iFI'ASHINGrTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA,ASSIGNOE TO AZEL FORD, 0F VIASHINGTQN,

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA..

AUTOMATIC STOP FOR RAIL'WAYS.

Application filed January 11, 1921. Serial No. 436,416. I

'0 all whoa/L it may concern.

Be it known that I, EDWARD CLEMENT, a citizen of the United States,residing at l ashington. in the District of Columbia, have inventedcertain new and useful Tmprcvements in Automatic Stops for Railways, ofwhich the following is a specification, reference being had therein tothe accompanying drawing.

My invention relates to satety systems for railways, and especially toautomatic stopping devices for cars or locomotives; The object oi? theinvention is to produce a normally energized or closed-circuit systemnot only on the car or locomotive, but includthe mechanism which isoperated YlI'OHl the track or by the semaphore operating devices. Inother words. it is desired to have the connecting link between themoving vehicle and the track normally held by positively acting forcesto clear in such man ner that any failure of operation, as well as thenormal or intended reversal at operation, will cause the parts toregister and operate so as to indicate danger andv to stop the vehicle.

I attain my object by providing a plow on the vehicle, which atconvenient intervals such as the ends 01": block sections, passesthrough or over magnetic bodies, which have a tendency to placethemselves in the path of the plow to make'magnetic contact therewith.On the plow I mount a relay, having double poles, one pair extendingupwardly and normally carrying magnetic in o hold an armature whichcloses contacts included in the circuit of the relay winding; the otherpair extending downwardly and constituting magnetic shunt poles, whichwhen brought into magnetic contact or close proximity to the trackbodies, will divert the magnetic flux from the upper to the lower polesand weaken the attraction ot' the armature so that it will bemomentarily released to break the circuit of the energizing winding ofthe relay. The magnetic bodies on the track have a normal tendency tomove into shunting position, and are positively held to clear.

Tn the accompanying drawings illustrating the-invention, which arediagrammatic in their nature, since mechanical detail forms no part ofthe present invention:

Fig. 1 represents the plow and relay and connected circuits carried onthe vehicle,

with a broken sectionoi the track armature in passing contact with theplow;

Fig. 2 represents in plan the parts on the tures.

The drawings are inscribed with explanatory legends which make detaileddescrip tion unnecessary. The following explanation, however, is givenfor certainty.

In '1, the electric circuit may be assumed as carried up into the cabota locomotive. It includes two signal lamps L and a spectacle irame withred and green windows, controlled by solenoid S, the solenoidsS and Scontrolling balanced valves connecting air to suitableoperatingmechanism tor the brakes and for the steam or other drivingpower, respectively, and the winding of the plow relay. Bridge contactsC are included in the connection to the relay winding, while a separateinsulated contact C is included in the circuit otlamp L, these contactsC and C" being carried on the armature A, which tendsconstantl-y toleave theupper poles of the plow relay under the influence of a spring.The energizing cir 'cuit of the plow relay is a series circuit includingthe several solenoids, contacts C and battery, and may be traced asfollows: battery, S, SZ'S, plow relay, contacts C, and back to battery.For closing a series circuit through the solenoids, battery and relay,independently ot the contacts C when they are open, a short circuit orshunt is connected around the bridge contacts C which shunt circuitisnormally open at a key accessible to the engineer and marked Reset key.The shunt circuit is as follows: battery, S, S S, winding of the relay,key, battery. This keyhas a pointed stylus-to punch a hole in achronograph card, clock driven, whenever it is depressed.

In Fig. 2 are shown two parallel soft iron bodies marked Track armature,which are connected by links for parallel motion to and from each other,each being horizontally laminated as indicated in Fig. 1.

In full lines these armatures are shown in Fig. 2 in retracted position,to which they are held by positive or energized action of the trackwires or rods forming part of the block signalling system. whenreleased, either by :tailure of this mechanism or by operation thereof,the armatures are forced together c springs marked X. t hen reanydesired form of switch) as a test on the battery. The circuit of lamp Lmay be traced from, battery, through lamp L, contact C back to battery.At the same time the plow relay is energized and pulls down itsarmature, which. looks by closing the relay circuit through right handend of contact C, winding of relay, solenoids S and S, battery, back toleft-hand end of Contact C; the solenoids are all energized,thespectacle frame over the lamps la and IA,

is raised to show clear (its upper windows being red and its lowerwindows green, or other color as) practice may dictate) the throttle andair breaks are placed under control ofthe engineer, and the system isthus energized or positively held to clear.

' In running, the engineer has before him a constant test on hisbattery, iis solenoids and his plow relay. If the lamp L. goes out,either the plow relay has let go or there is trouble in the lamp orcircuit. If the lamps both go out the trouble is in the battery, etc. Inpassing over blocks which are clear, and the signals properly set toinclicate that fact, the cab apparatus remains normal, as described. Ifa semaphore danger signal is set to danger, the track armatures at thatpoint will also be released or set to danger, i. e., they ,will'havemoved together into position to engage the plow as it passes. lVhen thisoccurs, the flux of the plow relay will be diverted or shunted throughthe lower poles and the track armatures, the upper poles will becomemagnetically weakened and release the armature, which will immediatelybe raised by its spring or equivalent means, and as it starts toretract, breaks the relay circuit. This de-' prives all the solenoids ofcurrent, they let go, the spectacle frame drops to show the lights red,the power is cut oil, and brakes put on, to stop the train. lit cannotagain be started except by the engineer in recorded use of the re-setkey. Accidental derangement of the track connections or other causesleading to failure of the holding means for the track armatures, willrelease them and produce the same result.

I claim:

1. An automatic stop system comprising operating parts on the vehiclecontrolled by a relay also on the: vehicle having an armature normallyattracted and maintaining its own energizing circuit closed, withv amagnet-ic body on the track adapted when in danger position to shortcircuit the magnetic flux of said relay through itself, to release saidarmature and de-energize the relay.

2. A. railway signaling system having operating parts actuated by aself-locking electromagnetic relay carried on the vehicle and a shuntfor the magnetic circuit of said relay on the track.

3. A railway signaling system having a self-locking electromagneticrelay carried on the vehicle, a relatively high resistance magneticcircuit for said relay controlling operating parts on the vehicle, and arelatively low resistance magnetic circuit for the saidmagnet on thetrack.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature,

EDWVARD E. CLEMENT.

